Lease On Love
BY Falon Ballard
Rating: 4.75/5 Genre: Contemporary Romance Steam: Explicit! Publisher: GP Putnam Pub Date: February 1, 2022 Available: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop
Lease On Love Synopsis:
After getting passed over for an overdue—and much needed—promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night-stand. When one drink turns into one too many, Sadie mixes up a long-ignored dating app for a roommate-finding app and finds herself on the doorstep of Jack Thomas’s gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone. Too bad she’s more attracted to his impressive real estate than she is to the man himself.
Jack, still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, has learned to find comfort in video games and movie marathons instead of friends. So while he doesn’t know just what to make of the vivaciously verbose Sadie, he’s willing to offer her his spare bedroom while she gets back on her feet. And with the rent unbeatably low, Sadie can finally pursue her floristry side hustle full-time. The two are polar opposites, but as Sadie’s presence begins to turn the brownstone into a home, they both start to realize they may have just made the deal of a lifetime.
Content Warnings: Death of parents (off page), childhood trauma (off page), drinking, grief
Lease On Love Review
I meant to pick this one up for months after I bought it. I had seen nothing but raving reviews and I get it now. I really do. It’s phenomenal and I adore the story. It’s cozy and sweet and builds things up in the best way. Is this a loud book, no it’s a quiet one that stays with you and makes you savor each page that you read.
Loves:
I adored the characters so much. Sadie doesn’t get her promotion says some unprofessional, albeit truthful, things that get her fired. Not going to lie it was as the point that I fell in love with Sadie. Like I want her as my best friend. She was so much fun and her whole arc was amazing at getting her life together. I loved watching her chase her dreams. It was simply the best. Plus Sadie’s friends were a highlight of this novel and built up so much of the plot in a realistic way. I was utterly involved in their stories too as they were fully fleshed out characters too.
Jack went through it in this book. Seeing his development blossom in this book was amazing. I loved the romance between Jack and Sadie, but I think I loved the way that they grew as friends and created a community together. That balance really sold me on the whole book and why I love it so much. But seriously, Jack is so freaking sweet.
This book covers topics like sudden death of parents, deep set grief, and childhood trauma but it does it in such careful ways. I was actually taken aback by how kindly and realistically this was done.
And the tension!!! It was basically historical romance level tension, you know ~hand graze~ for a decent chunk of the book. So it is a slow burn but the payoff👌! And they were ROOMMATES! That’s all I have on this. It was flawless. Also, their communication on point.
Meh:
I wish there had been a bit more conversation between Jack and Sadie at the end and their relationship fleshed out a bit more, but the gooey feeling I got from the rest of the book? Just excellent. I just want books to have their big moment about 20 pages earlier and let the fallout have more room to breath!
Long Story Short
Do I recommend this book? Yes. It does a really great job at touching at heavier topics while being a completely comfort read. Between the development of the characters and the building tension between Sadie and Jack it will be one of those quiet books that sweeps you away. I highly recommend this book!! I cannot wait to read Ballard’s future novels!
If You Liked This One…
I would highly recommend looking into Roni Loren’s novels. They have a great blend of found family, stunning romance, heavy topics, and beautiful character arcs. They are more explicit, but oh so good. My reviews for: Yes & I Love You, What If You & Me, and The One Who Got Away. Alternatively Trish Doller would be another perfect author. Float Plan and The Suite Spot were both great emotional, character arc driven books.
